Hemijski sastav, antibakterijska, antioksidativna i genotoksična aktivnost lišajeva Umbilicaria crustulosa (Ach.) Frey, Umbilicaria cylindrica (L.) Delise, Hypogymnia tubulosa (Schaer.) Hav. i Evernia prunastri (L.) Ach.

Through this doctoral thesis chemical composition of acetone, ether, ethyl acetate and dichloromethane extracts and antioxidant, antibacterial and genotoxic activity of acetone extracts of the lichens Umbilicaria crustulosa (Аch.) Frey, Umbilicaria cylindrica (L.) Delise, Hypogimnia tubulosa (Schaer.) Hav. and Evernia prunastri (L.) Ach. were examined. Study on the content of the certain elements in these lichens was also carried out. Activity concentration of 40K, 137Cs, 226Ra and 232Th was determined only for lichen E. prunastri. Anticholinesterase activity of acetone extracts and isolated gyrophoric acid was also examined. The most abundant component of acetone extracts of lichen U. crustulosa and U. cylindrica was girophoric acid. The main components of acetone, ether and ethyl acetate extracts of H. tubulosa were physodic acid and the 3-hydroxyphysodic acid. The most abundant component of acetone extract of E. prunastri was evernic acid. The composition of dichloromethane extracts of all investigated lichens was different from the other extracts, atranorine was dominant component fallowed with small quantities of depsides and depsidons. Orcinol, atraric acid and orsellinic acid were the major volatile compounds in U. crustulosa, U. cylindrica and E. prunastri extracts, while olivetol, 3-hydroxyolivetonide and olivetonide were the main volatiles in H. tubulose extracts. Umbilicaria cylindrica has the highest content of Al, Co, Cr, Fe, Mn, V, Ba, Cd and Pb while the content of B, Si and Zn is the largest in U. crustulosa sample. The activity of 40K was 108 Bq kg-1 while the activities of 137Cs, 226Ra and 232Th were below minimal detectable activities. The results of antioxidant activity indicated a higher antioxidant capacity of depsidone compared to the depside. Gram-negative bacteria were resistant to the tested extracts. Extracts of U. cylindrica, E. prunastri and H. tubulosa had inhibition effect towards Gram-positive bacteria. The highest decreasing in the micronucleus frequency were indicated by extracts at concentration of 2 mg mL-1. Extracts of H. tubulosa, E. prunastri and gyrophoric acid at concentration of 10 mg mL-1 showed an inhibitory effect on cholinesterase activity

Green Public Procurement as Potential Lever of Green Growth

In the past two decades, public procurement changed significantly from compliance to a strategic function in a majority of highly developed countries becoming a strong lever that promotes green growth. EU legislation created favorable legal preconditions for the application of green public procurement (GPP) in member states (MS) in all phases of the procurement process. However, some recent research show that uptake of GPP was low and fragmented in MS with weak enforcement of the public procurement rules allowing environmental considerations. To promote GPP adoption of GPP in practice, governments have to work on closing implementation gaps. That includes, besides creating a favorable legal framework, establishing a centralized governmental body that would lead and coordinate reforms in this area as well as developing an evaluation methodology to detect the strengths and weaknesses of a public procurement system. Strategies and annual action plans for the development of public procurement system that includes GPP, as an integral part should be prepared accompanied by close monitoring of progress in their implementation

Ramalina capitata (Ach.) Nyl. acetone extract

In the present investigation, effects of Ramalina capitata acetone extract on micronucleus distribution on human lymphocytes, on cholinesterase activity and antioxidant activity (by the CUPRAC method) were examined, for the first time as well as its HPLC profile. Additionally, total phenolic compounds (TPC), antioxidant properties (estimated via DPPH, ABTS and TRP assays) and antibacterial activity were determined. The predominant phenolic compounds in this extract were evernic, everninic and obtusatic acids. Acetone extract of R. capitata at concentration of 2 μg mL-1 decreased a frequency of micronuclei (MN) for 14.8 %. The extract reduces the concentration of DPPH and ABTS radicals for 21.2 and 36.1 % (respectively). Values for total reducing power (TRP) and cupric reducing capacity (CUPRAC) were 0.4624 ± 0.1064 μg ascorbic acid equivalents (AAE) per mg of dry extract, and 6.1176 ± 0.2964 μg Trolox equivalents (TE) per mg of dry extract, respectively. The total phenol content was 670.6376 ± 66.554 μg galic acid equivalents (GAE) per mg of dry extract. Tested extract at concentration of 2 mg mL-1 exhibited inhibition effect (5.2 %) on pooled human serum cholinesterase. The antimicrobial assay showed that acetone extract had inhibition effect towards Gram-positive strains. The results of manifested antioxidant activity, reducing the number of micronuclei in human lymphocytes, and antibacterial activity recommends R. capitata extract for further in vivo studies

GC-MS ANALYSIS OF RAMALINA CAPITATA (ACH.) NYL. EXTRACT

This is the first report on the GC-MS profile of the ether-soluble fraction (ESF) of the methanol extract of the lichen Ramalina capitata (Ach.) Nyl. (Ramalinaceae). The profile was dominated by orcinol (22.9 %) and its monomethyl ether (30.9 %), which accounted for more than a half of the GC-MS analyzable fraction of ESF. Significantly lower amounts of structurally related sparassol (5.8%) and atraric acid (0.9 %) were also detected. Additionally, ESF contained methyl linoleate, methyl linolenate and methyl palmitate (17.3 %, 7.3 % and 5.0 %, respectively). GC-MS ANALIZA EKSTRAKTA LIŠAJA RAMALINA CAPITATA (ACH.) NYL.GC-MS profil etarske frakcije (EF) metanolnog ekstrakta lišaja Ramalina capitata (Ach.) Nyl. (Ramalinaceae), predstavljen je po prvi put. GC-MS profilom su dominirali orcinol (22,9%) i njegov derivat – orcinol monometil etar (30,9%), koji su zajedno sačinjavali polovinu EF isparljive/stabilne pod uslovima GC-MS analize. U značajno manjoj količini su detektovani sparasol (5,8%) i atrarna kiselina (0,9%). Takođe, EF je sadržavao metil-linoleat, metil-linolenat i metil-palmitat (17,3%, 7,3% i 5,0%, redom). HIGHLIGHTSChemical composition of the ether-soluble fraction of the methanol extract of Ramalina capitata was investigated by GC-MS for the first time.Eight compounds were identified representing 97.8%.The most abundant volatiles were orcinol (22.9%) and its monomethyl ether (30.9%).Methyl linoleate was found to be the major ester (17.3%) followed by methyl linolenate (7.3%) and methyl palmitate (5.1%).

An overview of the effect of Hypogimnia physodes, Hypogimnia tubulosa, Umbilicaria crustulosa and Umbilicaria cylindrica acetone extracts on frequencies and distribution of micronucleus in human lymphocytes

The Hypogimnia physodes, Hypogimnia tubulosa, Umbilicaria crustulosa and Umbilicaria cylindrical acetone extracts were tested for in vitro protective effect on chromosome aberrations in peripheral human lymphocytes using cytochalasin-B blocked MN assay at concentrations of 1.0 and 2.0 μg mL-1. At the concentration of 1.0 µg/mL H. physodes, H. tubulosa, U. crustulosa and U. cylindrica extracts caused a decrease on the micronucleus frequency of 5.4 %, 4.2 %, 10.8% and 5.3%, respectively, comparing to the control cell cultures. Treatment of the cell cultures with acetone extract of H. tubulosa, U. crustulosa and U. cylindrica extracts at concentration of 2 µg/mL showed a decrease in the frequency of MN of 4.2 %, 16.8 % and 11.0% respectively while H. physodes extract at concentration of 2 µg/mL gave increases in MN frequency of 3.3 % (Stojanovic et al., 2013; Zlatanović et al. 2017; Stojanović et al., 2017). Only U. crustulosa extract at concentration of 2 µg/mL showed higher reduction of MN than amifostine (radioprotectant, previously known as WR- 2721) at concentration of 1 μg mL-1 which gave a decrease in the MN frequency of 11.4% comparing to control cell cultures.VII International Conference on Radiation in Various Fields of Research : RAD 2019 : book of abstracts; June 10-14, 2019; Herceg Novi, Montenegr

Effect of ultrasound and chemical pretreatments on L-ascorbic acid of dried bell pepper (Capsicum annuum) studied by factorial design

Drying is one of the methods for the preservation of fruits and vegetables [1]. Peppers are still dried in open sunlight, although this method has many shortcomings (long drying time, microbial contamination, depending on weather conditions, final product of poor color) [2]. Deterioration of numerous nutrients, which occurs during drying, can be prevented by applying various pre-treatments and/or different drying methods [2–4]. The aim of this study was to investigate effects of different pretreatments and drying methods on L-ascorbic acid (L-AA) content in dried bell pepper. Effect of following parameters were studied: applied additive (0.25% citric acid, 0.25% potassium metabisulfite or their mixture), temperature, time, pH value of pretreatment solution, ultrasound pretreatment, pepper slices size, pepper mass and drying method (hot air-drying and freeze-drying). For organization of experiments fractional factorial design was used. Results showed that only the drying method significantly affects the content of L-AA after a month of storage. Freeze-drying was a better method for L-AA preservation. The interaction between the drying method and the size of pepper slices was also meaningful, although this interaction wasn’t statistically significant. Better preservation of L-AA, for hot air-dried samples, was achieved with a slices size of 4×4 cm compared to smaller (2×2 cm) and larger ones (8×8 cm). In the case of freeze-dried samples, the slice size didn’t affect the preservation of L-AA. The medium slices of the pepper fruit provided better penetration of the additives, which resulted in a better protective effect on L-AA during the hot air-drying. On the other hand, smaller pieces (2×2 cm) led to higher losses, probably due to the higher leaching of L-AA. Larger slices (8×8 cm) proved to be the most unfavorable for the preservation of L-AA (maybe due to less diffusion of additive during pretreatment and its later weak effect during drying)

HPLC analysis of ascorbic acid in pretreated and dried red pepper (Capsicum annum)

Red pepper (Capsicum annum) fruits contain high amount of ascorbic acid (vitamin C), which is of great importance for human health. The aim of this study was to found how various pretreatments and drying methods influence on retention of ascorbic acid in dried pepper. The cultivar “Horgoška sweet 6”, often used for the production of paprika, was selected for analysis. Five sets of experiments were performed to investigate the effect of the following parameters: pretreatment temperature (20 oC, 50 oC, 80 oC), pH value (3, 6.5, 10), additive (0.25% citric acid, 0.25 % potassium metabisulfite and 0.25 % citric acid + 0.25 % potassium metabisulfite), ultrasound (off and on) and drying method (hot air drying and freeze drying). The initial content of ascorbic acid in fresh pepper was 292 mg/100 g dry basis (d.b.) and it was reduced after all pretreatment and after drying of pretreated samples. Most of examined pre-drying treatments improve retention of ascorbic acid in final dried peppers, except treatments at 80 oC. Our results indicate that temperature and drying method were parameters that significantly influenced ascorbic acid content in dried peppers. Other parameters were not significant, but had a certain effect on retention of ascorbic acid. The best parameters were temperature 20 oC, pH 6.5, citric acid/potassium metabisulfite, without applying ultrasound including freeze drying method

HPLC analysis of ascorbic acid in pretreated and dried red pepper (Capsicum annum)

Red pepper (Capsicum annum) fruits contain high amount of ascorbic acid (vitamin C), which is of great importance for human health. The aim of this study was to found how various pretreatments and drying methods influence on retention of ascorbic acid in dried pepper. The cultivar “Horgoška sweet 6”, often used for the production of paprika, was selected for analysis. Five sets of experiments were performed to investigate the effect of the following parameters: pretreatment temperature (20 oC, 50 oC, 80 oC), pH value (3, 6.5, 10), additive (0.25% citric acid, 0.25 % potassium metabisulfite and 0.25 % citric acid + 0.25 % potassium metabisulfite), ultrasound (off and on) and drying method (hot air drying and freeze drying). The initial content of ascorbic acid in fresh pepper was 292 mg/100 g dry basis (d.b.) and it was reduced after all pretreatment and after drying of pretreated samples. Most of examined pre-drying treatments improve retention of ascorbic acid in final dried peppers, except treatments at 80 oC. Our results indicate that temperature and drying method were parameters that significantly influenced ascorbic acid content in dried peppers. Other parameters were not significant, but had a certain effect on retention of ascorbic acid. The best parameters were temperature 20 oC, pH 6.5, citric acid/potassium metabisulfite, without applying ultrasound including freeze drying method

Influence of Ultrasonic and Chemical Pretreatments on Quality Attributes of Dried Pepper (Capsicum annuum)

This study investigates the effects of ultrasound, in combination with chemical pretreatments, on the quality attributes (total phenolic and carotenoid content, antioxidant activity (2,2-Diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl assay (DPPH)), ferric-reducing ability (FRAP), CIE L* a* b* color, non-enzymatic browning, rehydration ratio, textural and morphological properties) of red pepper subjected to drying (hot air drying or freeze drying). The fractional factorial design was used to assess the impact of factors. The global Derringer desirability function was used to determine the optimal conditions for the best quality attributes of dried pepper. The drying method influenced total phenolic content, a* (redness), and initial rehydration ratio; pretreatment time significantly affected FRAP antiradical activity, a*, chroma and non-browning index, while pH-value had a significant effect on the texture of dried pepper. Non-enzymatic browning was reduced to 72.6%, while the DPPH antioxidant capacity of freeze-dried peppers was enhanced from 4.2% to 71.9%. Ultrasonic pretreatment led to changes in the pepper morphology, while potassium metabisulfite (KMS) was a more effective additive than citric acid

Application of drone in agriculture

The paper analyzes the possibility and necessity of applying special types of robots (mini unmanned aircraft with different constructions with the UAV tag) in agriculture (agrodrone). Year 2015 was declared (Fortune Magazine, 2016) as the year of increase and widespread application of drone aircraft in all areas of human activity, particularly in agriculture and forestry (75% usage). This is important for large areas of farms, whe re the mini aircraft have numerous useful functions and a very cost-effective application. Agro drone flight (flight time of 45 min, and the flight altitude of 1 m to 120 m) can be used to analyze more functional parameters on about 120 ha of crops, and all data can be sent to multiple locations (Audit Information Centre, mobile phones users and the like). Today some types of agro drones have a relative price of 2000 USD, if the users (farmers) assemble the drone themselves after purchasing it in parts. However the price of these mini aircraft can be up to 250,000 US$ for specific models used by the military, when equipped with special infrared cameras, sensors and HD video tech nology, which is controlled by an operator (pilot) from the surface. Usage of agro drones may be expensive at first, but research shows that many data collected (for example, identifying the species of insects and plant diseases, irrigation, yield asse ssment or monitoring the movement of animals on farms), help farmers to regain inve sted funds, sometimes for only one year. Farmers can use these aircraft in order to establish a rational and precise use of pesticides, herbicides, mineral fertilizers, all based on data obtained from the agro drone, used for precision agriculture systems. In this sense, the farmers have significant financial benefits, since one drone flight has an operational cost of a water bottle, and the data collected has great value. There are anecdotes about farmers in the US who first buy an agro drone and afterwards a hunting dog. The paper presents some structures of agro drones as well as ideas for their possi ble future application in agriculture of the R. of Serbia